The Little People
by lilmetash
Summary: Because Gavroche didn't get to explore Paris with his brothers


There was a patter of footprints scampering down the pavement along with the cheery sound of children laughing and small, quick breaths. Gavroche's bare foot stuck a sharp edge of the pavement which caught him in surprise, but he continued marching proudly down the path, holding onto two little childrens' hands.

"Now come on, kids! We wanna be there just b'fore opening time for fresh bread and then we can go exploring. Would you look at the sun this morning, boys? It's the first sign of nice weather in God knows how many months so we're gonna make the most of it." Gavroche announced proudly and he beamed at the two children like a father. The youngest squealed in delight and raced his brother down to the bottom of the street where a little bakery stood. Gavroche quickened his pace and the smell of fresh bread filled his nostrils. His stomach growled at the sight of all the fresh pastries and bread. He opened the old rickety door and stood in amazement at all the cakes.

"Ah! Gavroche and his boys. The usual I suppose?" The elderly baker had taken a liking to the bold urchin and his boys as they were regular customers and quite reminded him of a time in his youth. The baker placed a small loaf of bread on the counter. Gavroche approached the man and placed four silver coins in his hand,

"You bet! I'm taking the kids out exploring today, we haven't had much of a chance since they arrived 'ere."

"Oh, that sounds fun, don't go getting into too much trouble now, I know what it's like. Oh, Gavroche, here." He took a smaller piece of freshly baked bread and placed it in the boy's dirty hands. "That's for helping me clean the trays a few nights ago."

"That was no problem, monsieur. Thanks!" He broke the loaf of bread in half and handed a piece to each of the two boys. He took the smaller piece from the baker for himself and ate it in a hurry. And then he was off again, marching around the corner with the two younger boys trailing behind, still munching their bread.

"Wait, Gavroche!" The older yelled. Gavroche turned shouting,

"But there's so much to show you!"

"So what's the plan, Gavroche?" The younger of the boys asked as they turned to a quiet alley. Even in the light he clasped his brother's hand, weary of any strangers that passed.

"It's alright, nobody's gonna hurt you, it's nine in the mornin'. Any cops come asking, you know the plan. Anyway, I thought we could go for a stroll in the park, go to the theatre with 'Ponine and then I'll introduce to Les Amis de l'ABC! We're livin' in a high time this week, boys." They two smiled in delight and Gavroche secured his cap and was holding their hands and singing as they darted through the streets which Gavroche had become incredibly familiar with during both day and night over the past few years.

In the park they found a girl and her father sitting on a bench by the lake feeding the ducks. Gavroche and his boys walked over to the edge and peered in the water and noisy creatures. Gavroche laughed at the ducks, he always thought they looked funny with their strange eyes and their quacks made all three boys giggle. He searched his pockets for any crumbs to feed them with but any he did find the ducks hardly noticed. His smile never faded though, and grew even wider as the youngest of the boys noticed a trail of three little golden ducklings,

"It's like us, Gavroche!" He laughed, pointing at the trail of ducklings. They all laughed then. It wasn't a particularly funny sentence, but it was a happy warm day and nothing seemed to be able to break their spirits. Gavroche felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around to meet a pair of bright blue eyes and golden hair, it was the girl who was feeding the ducks with her father.

"Would you like to feed them the rest of this?" Her voice was golden and like a dove. Gavroche smiled and thanked her and let the little boys feed them while he gazed at the bright puffy clouds and the sun warmed his face. He noticed his foot was a little cut from where he struck it on the pavement but didn't care for it much. He was content in the park, watching the girl, his boys and now the older man feeding the ducks. His oldest turned,

"Here, Gavroche!" He held out a piece of the bread and Gavroche joined in the feeding of the ducks. When the clock tower rang out and the sun was high in the sky, the boys thanked and said goodbye to the girl and the older man and went running once more. They stopped only to look at the bright flowers and birds that dazzled their child imagination.

They reached the dirty old tenement which Éponine called her home. Gavroche stopped before opening the door, "Okay, kids. Stay out here, I'll be two minutes. It's probably for the best if you stay just here." Gavroche left the confused, but happy, children on the doorstep. He knew his parents didn't approve of him, never mind him looking after two lost little boys who he treated like his brothers but acted also as a father. Except, of course, that they were Gavroche's little brothers, but they did not know it. Éponine was waiting at the top of the stairs with a smile, she too must be feeling the springy mood, Gavroche thought.

"Gavroche!" She smiled, pulling him in for a hug. Gavroche pulled away, as if to make him appear older, but he didn't want to upset her, so hugged her back quickly.

"Yes...anyway, I have the tickets!" He waved four tickets in front of her face. "I've been especially good this week, making money and taking jobs. You, me and the boys! Shame about Azelma though, she'll be fine, won't she? Ah well, I did all I could, let's go!" He didn't leave any time for interruptions and was soon dragging her down the street. The older of the boys greeted him with a wave and the little one looked a bit lost but joined in with his brother.

"Wanna see a show, boys? Oh this is Éponine, my sister. She gets into trouble a lot, but don't worry I'll set her straight!" Gavroche beamed, tugging onto his older sister's arm. Éponine laughed and lead the way to the theatre.  
"Street life has made you very tough, Gavroche." She placed a hand on his hat affectionately.

"An' staying at home as made you too soft. God knows how that happened" He grinned and batted her hand away. It was a lie of course, Gavroche knew that Éponine was incredibly strong and spent as much time away from the old house as much as she could.

The show was amazing, especially for the younger boys. It was filled with colour and noise and was quite funny, even for the children. When they left the theatre, Gavroche noticed that the boys looked a bit tired. The sun was lowering in the sky and Éponine looked at the clock tower,

"Okay, Gavroche. I need to head back, but stay safe. Okay?" She placed a kiss on his forehead and Gavroche laughed,

"Don't you worry, 'Ponine! It's me. Plus, these boys are shaping up to be very street-wise. I've been here for years, remember. We'll all be safe together. Anyways, you need me, you know where I am. It's very big and has two enormous ears. Remember and ask for Monsieur Gavroche. Oh and mind your feet, cause those rats are quite nasty." He grinned up at his sister.

"Gavroche you're too full of wonders for an eleven year old! It was nice to meet you two boys as well." She placed a kiss on each of their foreheads and with a short cough, made way back to her home.

"You lads look a bit sleepy, you want to head back home?" He turned to the younger boys.

"No! We want to meet your friends, Gavroche!" The older one moaned. Gavroche looked at the younger one who nodded in agreement with his brother.

"Alright, but if you pass out in the cafe I ain't draggin' you back!" Gavroche laughed and once more they were skipping through dodging the crowds of people. Gavroche even managed to stomp on a man's foot and pick-pocket him because he kept approaching a girl who was obviously trying to ignore him. His boys laughed as they bounded merrily along the streets of Paris until Gavroche stopped in front of a cafe and carefully led them. He told them to be quiet and on behave as nice as possible to any staff as they were not overly keen on Gavroche being there, never mind two younger boys. They entered a back room and suddenly the world was full of life.

Gavroche introduced the boys to countless names, Jehan, Grantaire, Feuilly and Bahorel, Joly, Combeferre, Courfeyrac and Bousset. There was a man in red who the youngest boy looked quite scared of but at the same time kept looking as he managed to rally the rest of the men and captivate their attention by saying one sentence.

"That's Enjolras, kids." Gavroche whispered, "Don't get on the wrong side of him. He'll attack you with big fancy words that you won't understand yet. But he's a strong leader here and that's good." The oldest of Gavroche's boys struck a conversation with Jehan and they talked about drawings and art. Gavroche noticed that the youngest was looking very lost amongst the crowd of students, so he clutched his hand and introduced him to Grantaire.

"Hello, young man. And hello, Gavroche." Grantaire laughed.

"Oi! This is my youngest boy, Grantaire!" Gavroche announced.

"Oh you named him after me?" Grantaire joked.

"What! No!" Gavroche surprisingly didn't notice the tone of sarcasm in Grantaire's voice.

"Well what are their names?" Grantaire asked, quite confused now. At that moment the older boy came back with a small drawing in his hand,

"Look! Jehan drew me our home." He waved it proudly in front of his little brother.

"We don't have names." Gavroche shrugged, "They are my kids."

Grantaire looked at the drawing of the Elephant of the Bastille and laughed.

"You live in the Bastille Elephant!" He laughed, "And you do have a name. Gavroche."

"Yeah! Well, it's cosy, we keep the rats out and not many people can say that they live in an elephant so that's something. Also, Gavroche is a name I chose for myself."

Grantaire looked at the elephant drawing in thought.

"Why don't you choose names for your boys, then?" Grantaire suggested.

"But it's not really up to me." Gavroche shrugged.

"Well then give us nicknames, Gavroche." The older of the kids said. The younger nodded, not speaking much as he nudged closer to his brother. Gavroche thought for a moment.

"You can be, umm...Bastille!" He announced, taking the drawing of the elephant from Grantaire. "Or Éléphant." Gavroche laughed handing the drawing back to the older boy now named after their home.

"And you can be…" He turned to the younger one, who was clutching onto his brother's hand faced Gavroche with a smile.

"Perdu."

Grantaire laughed again,

"That suits him well. He's very lost."

"They are only nicknames and I'm not sure they'll catch on. And he'll not be lost very long. Summer's coming and I'll teach them about every nook of Paris. They're my boys after all."

With that, Gavroche and his boys took off into the streets.


End file.
